TRAVEL WITH THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:)): February 2010

Sunday, February 28, 2010

I'M PROBABLY THE ONLY PERSON WHO VOLUNTARILY NEVER WATCHED THE HOCKEY GAME TODAY

DESERT LILY (200mm)

We did battle with the wind all night again. It came like a thief in the night robbing me of a good night's sleep. (if there is such a thing anymore) Woke me up at 1:30 & had me out of bed by 3:20. Turned on the computer at 3:25 & the wind quit at 3:30. Banged around on the keyboard until 5:10 & was back in bed by 5:15. The winds waited 20 minutes to make sure I was fully asleep & then pounced at 5:35. I was madly on my feet again by 5:40 & mentally, my day was over by 5:45 A.M.

WHAT THE HECK IS KELLY DOING.......SMELLING A DESERT LILY OF COURSE

Sunny but cool this morning as we saw Wandering Willy speed by on his 40 minute morning walk. Tried to get a picture of him but there was just a trail of desert dust as he speeded up & over Coyote Mountain to our west. I did catch the red jacketed road runner on his way back though.

SEE THE RED DOT AT BOTTOM RIGHT

IT'S THE HAPPY WANDERER HIMSELF.....WANDERING WILLY:))

Wandering Willy (Bill) & I sat outside in lawn chairs for the whole morning discussing the price of tea in China, the economic downturn in outer Mongolia, & the flamboyant life of the South African Tse Tse fly. Between those subjects we touched on satellite dishes, blogs, fellow bloggers, RVing in general, travel routes, & favorite places to stay. About noon Kelly said something about a hockey game & I noticed the whole world seemed to stop. It was like the planet's population disappeared into their television sets. I wondered if maybe they were playing a rerun of the last hockey game I watched when Johnny Bower was in the net for the Toronto Maple Leafs & Jacques Plante was in goal for the Montreal Canadians at the other end. Now them's was the days of good hockey!!

200 mm

SNOW ON THE MOUNTAIN TOPS THIS MORNING

Sometimes on our hikes we get into some rock scrambly areas where footing is not the best & it's easy to take a tumble. I have noticed some folks using walking sticks to help them along with their steady balance. I'm usually carrying camera gear so for me a stick just gets in the way. Kelly sometimes has some balancing problems & has been considering getting a walking stick. I just thought a stick was just a stick until I read BARNEY'S post a few months back. I saved it & had intended to include it in the blog but kept forgetting to put it in. I thought of it last night & today so here it is. An informative post about the importance of having a proper WALKING STICK.

MISTY MOUNTAIN RAIN (200mm)

For the most part I really like our new Toshiba laptops but there are a couple things I wished they would have left alone. Our old Toshy has an easily accessible wheel to turn for volume control. The new one has a + & - sign to press for doing that but I prefer the wheel. Because of the number pad on the right the keyboard is shifted to the left so I've always got my arm placement & fingers wrong. I liked the bigger & solider start button on the old one too. And this new Toshiba has such a smooth shiny finish that not even a fly could land on it without skidding right off the end of the runway. It shows every fingerprint from here to Swahili land. Says it has harman/kardon speakers but it still spells tin can sound in my books. Other than those few little gripes, I really like it. And besides, it wouldn't be right if I didn't have a gripe about something would it.

Kelly finally jumped through & over all the hoops & barrels re-installing Winamp. She then successfully transferred all the music files for the second time between the two laptops so now I have all my music files again. Transferring all our Outlook Express address's to Windows Live Mail has proved to be a separate monster all of itself!! I had a big accomplishment day as well. I picked up some small stones around the rig & combed my hair.

MOUNTAINS IN THE MIST (700mm)

Will check tomorrow at the Anza Borrego visitor's center for their March brochure of events. Would really like to take one of their guided tours of Ghost Mountain if they are having any more. Really wanted to get in on some of the Astronomy night classes but I think they may be over until the fall.

INSIDE THE SAN YSIDRO MOUNTAINS (200mm)

Had my Atlas out again this afternoon trying to decide where we are going once we leave here whenever that is. Borrego Springs will probably be our furthest point west this trip so when we leave here it will be the start of our long slow trek northeast towards home. I imagine we will be somewhere in eastern California or northeastern Arizona next month about this time. All depends on weather up in that neck of the woods.

I was sitting outside in a lawn chair with the computer on my lap this afternoon when I heard the simultaneous "Yaaaaay" from both WW's rig & ours. The hockey game was over & Canada had won:)) Bill (WW) & I sat outside chatting for the rest of the afternoon & I'm sure that is the longest I have talked to one single person in many many months. Truly a nice fellow & we will miss him when he rolls out early in the morning.

I did upload 2 new Picasa Web Albums today with more photos from the last couple of days.

EARLY MORNING PHOTO SHOOT & WW

CHRISTMAS CIRCLE PLUS THE OREGON GUYS VISIT THE MOTORMOUSE

GROANER'S CORNER:(( As migration approached, two elderly vultures doubted they could make the trip south, so they decided to go by airplane.
When they checked their baggage, the attendant noticed that they were carrying two dead raccoons. "Do you wish to check the raccoons through as luggage?" she asked.
"No, thanks," replied the vultures. "They're carrion."

BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

EARLY MORNING PHOTO GROUP & WANDERING WILLY RIDES INTO TOWN

It was the large setting moon low over the San Ysidro mountains that cast it's long, almost horizontal moonbeams through the windshield of our Motorhome & gently alighted on my waking eyelids. A new dawn was about to begin.

I was glad to see a clear morning with stars visible. Weatherman had been calling for a windy rainy day but so far in the early morn it had not yet arrived. Tossed my camera gear into the car & was out the door headed for Borrego Springs by 6:30. First time I've seen the night time lights of Borrego. There were a couple cars already parked in front of the Borrego Desert Nature
Center where everyone was meeting for the desert hands on photo class. Photographer Leo Larsen & wife Helen rolled in a few minutes later & introductions went around. Leo & Helen are from San Diego & Leo was a Park Ranger in Wyoming's Grand Teton mountains for 30 years.

Twenty minutes later all were present & we were in our cars with headlights on convoying 5 miles east of Borrego Springs to an area known as, The Dunes. Cars were parked & we headed out on foot across small sandy dunes to an area of larger dunes. The awakening sky was nothing short of spectacular. A weather front moving in over the San Ysidro mountains to the west had brought with it huge storm clouds loaded with darkened moisture. The breaking morning sun cast it's long tentacles of crayoned colors into the clouds & onto the mountaintops. Probably one of the finest mornings I have seen for a very long time.

We gathered in the lee of a large 15 foot sand dune while John gave a short talk on the importance of light, contrasts, composition, location, & preparation. I could tell by his words & his equipment, he was a true professional dedicated to the finer arts of photography. Leo still prefers to work in the film format & his technical knowledge was well beyond the rest of us mere mortals gathered there. With that having been said, about a dozen or more avid photo bugs scurried off in all directions in search of their own personal photographic morning.

LEO LARSON KNOWS HIS PHOTOGRAPHY

The 360 degree panoramic view across the valley was beautiful and especially so towards the town of Borrego Springs about 5 miles to the west tucked up against the San Ysidro mountains. To the south I could see all the way toward the Yaqui Pass probably 20 miles or more away. A slight rainbow in the San Ysidro's as clouds began to filter down onto the mountain tops & into the canyons. Rain approached in the dark gray & almost burgundy colored mists. This was truly an exceptional morning.

Leo had explained earlier that the mornings class was originally geared for photographing desert flowers but with the lateness of bloom this year the emphasis had shifted to a sunrise opportunity in the sand dunes. Nevertheless, after wrapping up our shoot in the dunes we all walked back to our vehicles, piled in, & drove the short distance to Henderson Canyon where many great desert bloom photographs have been taken over the years. But, as Leo & wife Helen explained, that was when the blooms were in their heyday 15 to 20 years ago. Those days are long gone now Helen explained because of several factors. The Saharan Mustard plant has somehow taken foot in southern California & is slowly choking out many native species. Environmental factors may have taken it's affects as well. The glory flower days may be gone but there is still plenty of color to see & plenty of color to come in the next few weeks. This morning's excursion took us to patches of Sand Verbena, Brown Eyed Evening Primrose, Desert Sunflowers, Desert Lilies, & Dune Evening Primrose. And amongst all these colorful flowers grew the dreaded spreading Sahara Mustard plant.

HELEN LARSON KNOWS HER FLOWERS

Our sojourn into the flower patches along Henderson Canyon road was cut short as sheets of graying rain clouds finally made their way across the valley to our very location. Camera's were quickly packed up, a few hasty goodbyes, a couple of handshakes, & I was back in my car with the windshield wipers going heading the short distance back to our rig. This mornings photo shoot will be one of those scenic memories in time which will remain with me for many years. It was a special morning with a group of people I will never see again & a canopy of moody morning storm clouds that will only ever remain in peoples memories & photographs.

DESERT DRIFTWOOD

LAURIE http://laurieandodel.blogspot.com/ brought up an interesting thought in a blog comment last night. She asked, "Is that REALLY why you blog? Would you quit blogging if you didn't get comments from readers? If you thought no one was reading?"

I guess my short answer to that question is yes. Blogs can be different things to different people. I have often been a person of logs & journals over the years so it came naturally for me to connect that with the blogging craze a few years ago. The blog is, amongst other things, a daily diary into the life of myself & those around me. I enjoy looking back over the years to see different events & times I have written about. It gives me personal 'way points' in my life. My first written recordings actually began back in the late 50's & I still have those. Blogging is also a great form of communication for friends & families. I don't write nearly as many emails to people anymore because everything is right here in the blog. I still write a daily blog even when we are not traveling because it gives me a focus & purpose each day. It's a perfect format for blending together my hobbies of writing & photography.

BORREGO SPRING'S MEDICAL CENTER IS OUT THERE IN THE COMMUNITY OF MONTESORO

For me, a blog is the perfect example of a two way street. Because of this blog my mind is alive each day thinking of ideas, events, & points of interest. A fellow blogger awhile back mentioned how much he likes windmills so now I watch for interesting windmills along the way. Some folks are bird people so my eyes & ears are on the hunt for birds. Flower people give me purpose & pleasure as I tramp around fields with senses more attuned to flowers than ever before. All of these things plus countless more give me purpose. It is the little things in some of the comments that give me ideas. It is the emails from people that give me the inspiration to get off my can & head off to a car show, or photo class, or a historical location, or to an event of some kind that I may not have ordinarily attended. It is the readers of the blog that I owe my re-newed interest in photography & It is the readers of the blog who have restored my writing interests. I may have included fellow bloggers in blanket coverage opinions before so I had better reel that in & keep those opinions directed at myself. Every blogger has their own reasons for their blogs.

This morning's early start led to a lazy afternoon. The weather closed in, temps dropped, rain came down & the winds picked up. Seemed like a good day for inside stuff so that's just what I did. Sat down in my chair & fell asleep. The dog alarms went off about 1 o'clock with the gang rumbling out the door & down the steps barking their heads off. My head had already fallen off in my lap so it took me a few seconds to get things reattached again. Kelly was out the door & I heard her say something like, "Hello Bill." Despite my sleepy state I knew instantly that WANDERING WILLY http://wanderingwillystravels.blogspot.com/ had just rode into town.

SETTING UP THE RIG

Well, what a great pleasure it was to finally meet another blogger who we have been in contact with for over a year now. WW is on our current blog list & we follow his adventures. This is a soft spoken mild mannered man & it was so great to finally meet him. Had ourselves a chat for bit & then he set up his rig just behind us off to the right. We were both out taking photos a couple hours later when sheets of rain could be seen descending on Borrego Springs down in the valley. It wasn't long & the cooling winds blew that rain in our direction & we all headed for our rigs.

After a long & sometimes difficult trip deep into Mexico this winter WW is only about 4 days away from British Columbia & anxious to get home. I imagine we will be getting close to that very same feeling in another month or so...............................:((

RAIN SHOWERS OVER BORREGO SPRINGS

I didn't get Friday's Christmas Circle photos into an album today but will try again tomorrow along with the rest of today's photos.

Just received a comment in our blog from a fellow by the name of Barney in which he said......"As far as I am concerned your posting of candid pictures of folks is far more intrusive in another person life than a few campers within what you consider your special space out in the desert. Legally in the USA you need a models release for those pictures taken without permission."

Well, looks like I've got myself into the soup again....:((